Key case



March 15, 1955 H, P, wlTTRlEN 2,704,101

KEY CASE Filed Dec. 29, 1951 IIIIIIIIIIII" INVENTOR fia-bene j? maf-m United States Patent O KEY CASE Herbert Paul Wittrien, Glendale, N. Y.

Application December 29, 1951, Serial No. 264,055

1 Claim. (Cl. 150-40) My invention relates to a key case that may be carried conveniently in a clothes pocket or in a billfold or wallet, and to the combination of a billfold or wallet and a key case.

An object is to provide a case to receive keys in llat, side by side relation, where the keys slide into pockets and are held there by the grip of the sides of 4the case. Another object is to provide a simple, compact, and inexpensive key case which is easy to use and convenient to carry.

A further object of the invention is to provide large capacity key cases that fold along a center line and lie tlat when carried in a pocket.

Still another object is to provide a combination billfold or wallet and key case.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts, which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the' invention will be indicated in the claim.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a billfold with a removable key case inserted in one of its pockets;-

Fig. 2 is an enlarged front view of the key case shown in Fig. l, containing four keys;

Fig. 3 is a view taken along line 3--3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the key case; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of still another embodiment of the key case.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawing.

The usual key case is a rather expensive, bulky article having some special key-attaching means and designed to serve as an independent carrying case. One embodiment of my invention does not relate to this type of key case, but rather to one for only a few spare keys and adaptable for carrying in a billfold and the like. A billfold is the item least likely forgotten by a person, and hence it is most advisable to have ones most important keys carried with it. For this purpose I provide a simple, fiat, small size key case.

Referring to the drawing, Fig. 1 shows a billfold 7 having a paper money compartment 8 and a patch pocket 9 into which a removable key case 10 is inserted. Key case 10 comprises a pair of substantially identical rectangular cover members 11 and 12 (Fig. 2) stitched or otherwise joined along adjacent common edges 13 and 14 but left open along common edges 15 and 16, to define an interior compartment 17. Compartment 17 is subdivided into illustratively, and in certain instances preferably, four individual triangular sections or scabbards 18, 19, 20 and 21 by independent lines of stitching 22, 23 and 24. These stitches emanate a short distance from edge 13 and extend divergently from a point just to the left of corner 2S to about the open edges 15 or 16 of cover members 11 and 12. The tops and bottoms of the triangular key sections are open, but as shown in Fig. 3, the cover members are bound together through compartment 17 by these lines of stitching.

Cover members 11 and 12 normally lie ush against one another and are preferably made of leather or certain leather-like plastics. Resilient materials of this sort when joined together at create expansible sections so that keys inserted therein are gripped and retained without any other support. This principle is illustrated in Fig. 4 where a key 26 has expanded section 18 by drawing edges 27 of cover members 11 and 12 away at an angle from stitching 22 and 13. The cover members thereby stretched hold key 26 between the nip so provided without the key necessarily touching the stitching at any point. Cover materials possessing little resilience may be used where the key engaging surface has high frictional qualities. In such case preformed sections (not shown) should be provided for the keys, and retention is then due primarily to friction of the key against the cover members. However, neither construction requires any other support to retain key 26 securely, and yet the key may be withdrawn with ease, thus providing a novel key case which is inexpensive, lightweight and simple to use.

As noted above, case 10 (Fig. 2) is subdivided into generally triangular scabbards, and though scabbards of other geometric configuration may be used, this one is deemed preferable because it approximates the contour of most keys. Keys inserted stem end rst are held more iirmly when the sides of the section converge, since the entire key becomes nipped between adjacent lines of stitching, running closely along each side. Furthermore, a triangular scabbard configuration lends itself more readily to greater capacity for a given case size, for key loops may be arranged in the long, open sides of the triangles adjacent the open edges of the case, while the narrow apices for receiving key stems may be concentrated more or less in one corner of the case. Of importance too is the fact that triangular scabbards allow the case to be used for keys of many sizes. This is illustrated in Fig. 2, where key 26 is the usual small type for automobiles, keys 28 and 29 being the larger type house keys with different style loops; key 30 is typical of the long pass keys commonly used for a safe deposit box. Yet each of these keys tits with equal ease and effectiveness because the nip of any key scabbard extends longitudinally along each at side of a key and the top and bottom are open to permit overextension where needed.

Key case 10 may be varied in many respects without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, stitching need not be used in joining cover members 11 and 12 and in subdividing compartment 17. Instead, it may be desirable to cement the cover members along these lines, and with some plastics heat-sealing is advantageous. Furthermore, the size and number of key scabbards may be varied to suit a particular need, and the case may be adapted to hold other objects, such as coins of different denomination. However, because case 10 is particularly adapted for use in combination with pocket 9 or in one side of paper money compartment 8 of billfold 7, its size approximates that of a business card. A preferred refinement, also, is an indented or scalloped open edge 31 (Fig. 2) of cover member 12 which exposes a portion of cover member 11 so that the two may be separated more readily in gaining access to the key sections. These and other variations add to the versatility and usefulness of the key case.

Another embodiment of my invention is a folding key case 32 (Fig. 5) about the size of a dollar bill, to be placed in paper money compartment 8 of billfold 7, or carried loose in a clothes pocket. This key case may have twice the capacity of key case 10, and thus comprises an oblong cover member 33 foldable along its center line 34, and two cover members 35 and 36, each about half the size of cover member 33. Cover members 35 and 36 are joined to cover member 33 on either side of center line 34 along the broken lines at outer edges 37a and 37b, respectively, and at bottom edge 38. The top and inner edges remain open, as in key case 10, previously described, and the resulting inner key cornpartments are subdivided along broken lines 39 and 40, respectively, radiating inwardly from the lower outer corners to define individual triangular key scabbards. There are four scabbards shown in the right side of key case 32 and live scabbards in the left to demonstrate arreglo:

variations in capacity; the upper edge of cover member 36 is shown rolled back to expose keys 41 contained 1n the right side. Additionally, the free corner 42 of each cover member is preferably rounded, and inner edges 43 are curved outwardly to facilitate access to the key compartments. Accordingly, I provide a handy case for nine keys that may be folded and carried in a clothes pocket or that may be inserted into the paper money compartment of a billfold to form a billfold-removable key case combination. It should be noted, too, that a portion of billfold 7 may include an integral key section according to my invention, as, for example, by atliXing pocket 9 (Fig. l) like cover member 36 (Fig. 5). In this way I provide the combination of a billfold and built-in key case.

A further embodiment of myy invention is an even larger size key case 44 (Fig. 6) styled like a wallet. It has a large, almost square cover member 45 that folds along one transverse center line 46, and four smaller cover members 47 attached to it at each corner on the inward side of the fold. These small cover members 47 are connected along broken lines 48 at the outer edges and 49 in the body of the key case radiating from each corner toward the center, in the manner described above for key case 10. As shown, two lines 49 approximately trisect each key compartment so that the total capacity is twelve keys. The size and subdivisions can, of course, be varied to suit the purpose, and in fact one portion of key case 44 may be constructed for keys as shown and described, and another portion modified with straight pockets to receive money or cards (not shown). As in case 32 (Fig. 5), the inner free edges 50 (Fig. 6) of cover members 47 are preferably rounded at the corners and are curved to facilitate access to the key comparts. Thus, another type key case embodying my invention is shown.

Since certain changes may be made in the above article, and diierent embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it

4 is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be inerpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I c aim:

A case for keys and the like comprising, in combination, a substantially rectangular rst cover member of resilient material, a pair of substantially square resilient cover members of smaller dimensions than said rst cover, seams joining each of said smaller cover members to said rst cover member along a pair of adjacent common edges to hold the body portions of said smaller cover members in face to face relation with said rst cover member so that adjacent inner corners of said smaller cover membersare movable outwardly of said first cover member, and seams joining the bodies of each of said smaller cover members with the face of said rst cover member along independent lines intermediate of said joined common edges, said last-mentioned seams being disposed along lines extending generally in the direction of the corners formed by said joined adjacent common edges so as to form substantially triangular scabbards between each of said smaller cover members and said irst cover member.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 908,456 Elliott Ian. 5, 1909 1,787,054 Scheuer Dec. 30, 1930 1,877,909 LEnfant Sept. 20, 1932 1,877,910 LEnfant Sept. 20, 1932 1,877,911 LEnfant Sept. 20, 1932 1,877,912 LEnfant Sept. 20, 1932 2,038,319 Stanley Apr. 21, 1936 2,100,771 Welch Nov. 30, 1937 2,172,883 Wege Sept. 12, 1939 2,435,032 Campbell Jan. 27, 1945 2,635,665 Ashley Apr. 21, 1953 

